ROADSIDE PLANTS by R. B. MacLaren

Any attempt to Tist and deSCribe aii of the roadside piants in P.E.I. wouid resuit in an articie Tong enough to fiii a1 Teast two issues of the Isiand Naturaiist. This articie then wiii be Timited to a dozen or so of the more common and interesting piants of the roadside. Roadside piants wiii vary greatiy with different areas and, of coarse, paved roads verses ciay roads

Two of the very common roadside piants are: rabbit's foot ciover (Trifoiium arvense) and hop ciover (three species). The rabbit's foot ciover is very weii named. The heads are rather smaii but the caiyx teeth are Tong and siiky. They are aiso a grayish coiour and certainiy give the impression of a rabbit's foot. It forms quite dense masses in many roadside areas.

The most common hop ciover is the iow hop ciover (l. procumbens). Most peopie wiii be famiiiar with this because it is very common and the yeiiow coiour on a 10w growing piant make it easiiy recognized.

Wiid bariey (Hordeum jubatum) is becoming increasingiy common aiong our roadsides. It is easiiy recognized because the heads resembie those of the common bariey except that the beards are smaiier but are very prickiy. It wiii be weii if this one sticks to the roadsides because, if cattie eat it, the awns can cause considerabie discomfort in the mouth and throat.

The three so far described are not very spectacuiar so perhaps it wouid be we11 to shift to a coupie that are quite attractive in appearance. First of aii, wiid carrot (Daucus carota), often caiied Queen Anne‘s Lace because of the pattern formed by the snow white biossoms. It wouid be nearly impossibie to ' miss this one because it is common from North Point to East Point. Unfortunateiy, it is creeping more and more into cuitivated iand and it is very difficuit to controi.

Now we come to chicory (Cichorium intybus) with its bright biue fiowers found aiong the stem. For some reason these fiowers have given rise to the name Blue Saiiors. It is fairiy common in the province but there is probabiy more in Mount Stewart than in most areas. It is worth remembering that the root of this piant, weii dried and fineiy ground, is a substitute for coffee. In fact, SOme _brands of coffee contain chicory.

Aimost everyone is famiiiar with goidenrod (Soiidago species) but how many reaiize that there are more than a dozen different species in P.E.I. Two of these are probabiJ more common than the others. Canada goidenrod (§. canadensis) is often caiied broad ieaved goidenrod and is very common aiong roadsides, especiaiiy in rich Tand. The next one (§. raminifoiia) is usuaiiy caiied narrow ieaved goidenrod. It is more iikeiy in iight sandy areas and has a fiat topped infiorescence, this aiong with the narrow ieaves make it easiiy recognizabie.

Aster is another of our piants with at Teast a dozen species, some of them quite attractive in appearance. Probabiy the most common one is the New York aster (Aster novi-beigii). This is the one we most commoniy see aiong the roadsides. It is quite variabie in the coiour of the bloom but mostly it is seen as paie biue to vioiet. The second most common aster is probabiy A. umbeiiatus, taii white aster. It is common aiong roadsides and wet ground. It is easiiy recognized by its very taii stems and white fiowers.

A newcomer to some of our roadsides is bird's foot trefoii (Lotus corniCuTatus). This is a forage piant and, I beiieve, has been used by the Highways peopie as a controi for erosion. It is quite an attractive piant but g

does not seem to be increasing too weii. No articie on roadside piants wouid be complete without reference to Tupins (Lupinus perennia). It is difficuit to say when the biue Tupin first { _ 9 - . QM)! WI